PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
WASHINGTON: Nearly three dozen current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency staff have warned Congress about the inexperience of Trump administration appointees potentially causing a catastrophe comparable to Hurricane Katrina.
The letter represents a rare public expression of internal dissent within the disaster response agency.
It specifically criticised Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting FEMA director David Richardson for lacking qualifications to manage natural disasters.
Noem’s requirement to review all contracts and grants exceeding $100,000 “reduces FEMA’s authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission,“ the letter states.
Workers requested Congress to establish FEMA as an independent cabinet-level agency free from Department of Homeland Security interference.
They also sought protection for employees from politically motivated dismissals to prevent “not only another national catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, but the effective dissolution of FEMA itself.”
Acting FEMA press secretary Daniel Llargues stated the agency remains “committed to ensuring FEMA delivers for the American people.”
He attributed current challenges to bureaucratic inefficiencies that the Trump administration “has made accountability and reform a priority.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the criticisms against Secretary Noem.
Approximately 2,000 FEMA employees, representing one third of its workforce, have departed this year through various means including firings and early retirements.
The administration additionally plans to cut about $1 billion in grant funding affecting emergency management programs.
This protest letter emerged just before the twentieth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which caused catastrophic flooding and claimed more than 1,800 lives in 2005.
It also coincides with the current hurricane season and President Trump’s stated intention to significantly reduce FEMA’s size and mandate.
The letter warns that current policies are reversing post-Katrina reforms by reducing funding and hampering rapid response capabilities through stringent oversight.
It urges Congress to defend FEMA from cuts and ensure leadership by qualified disaster management professionals.
Acting administrator David Richardson, a former Marine and DHS official, previously demonstrated limited awareness of hurricane season timing.
His June admission of not knowing the hurricane season runs from June through November left many staff members baffled. – Reuters
MADRID: Spanish authorities reported just over a dozen serious wildfires still burning across the country as foreign assistance begins to wind down.
The civil protection service confirmed 14 active wildfires classified as operation level two, indicating they pose significant danger to people and property.
This number represents a decrease from 18 fires reported on Saturday and 21 fires documented last week.
Four people have died during this month’s devastating wildfires that have consumed vast areas of land throughout Spain.
Virginia Barcones, head of the civil protection agency, stated that firefighting efforts were “progressing slowly” during a news conference.
She specifically highlighted reignition as a major challenge while adding: “The evolution is favourable in most of the fires”.
Barcones noted that winds have been “more intense” and temperatures higher on Monday but forecasts predict improved weather conditions for Tuesday.
Spanish firefighters have received crucial support from international teams from other European Union countries during weeks of intense firefighting operations.
The European Forest Fire Information System reported these blazes have scorched more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) over the past two weeks.
The hardest-hit regions were located in northern and western Spain, particularly Castile and Leon, Extremadura, and Galicia.
These catastrophic fires flared during a severe two-week heatwave that pushed temperatures above 40C throughout the country.
Foreign firefighting teams from Finland and France will begin returning home Tuesday according to the latest schedule.
German crews will return on Wednesday while Romanian teams are scheduled to leave Thursday, Barcones confirmed.
Three wildfire-related deaths occurred in Castile and Leon, with another fatality reported near the Madrid region.
Scientists worldwide assert that climate change is driving longer, more intense, and more frequent heatwaves that fuel such devastating wildfires. – AFP
LISBON: Nearly 1,000 firefighters remained mobilised on Monday in central Portugal to prevent flare-ups of what authorities described as the country’s largest recorded forest fire.
The blaze was only brought under control on Sunday after raging for 11 days and having burned 64,451 hectares (160,000 acres), according to National Civil Protection Authority spokesman Commander Telmo Ferreira.
That made it the largest fire ever recorded in Portugal, surpassing the previous record of 53,000 hectares devastated by a forest fire in October 2017.
The blaze covered seven municipalities in Coimbra, Guarda, and Castelo Branco districts and was caused by lightning strikes, officials confirmed.
Ferreira stated that authorities still had nearly 1,000 firefighters and 300 vehicles on surveillance operations Monday though the numbers were expected to be gradually reduced.
Monday brought some respite as the civil protection system recorded no fresh outbreaks from a summer which has seen Portugal and neighbouring Spain suffer a slew of fires.
Since July, forest fires have killed four people in Portugal, destroyed homes and crops, and ravaged some 278,000 hectares, according to European Forest Fire Information System data.
Portugal’s worst year was in 2017, when more than 563,000 hectares were burned in wildfires that killed 119 people, according to EFFIS records.
The government has announced a number of emergency measures to help affected areas, including funding for the reconstruction of destroyed homes and aid for farmers.
The Iberian Peninsula has been severely affected by climate change, which is causing longer and more intense heatwaves, according to experts. – AFP
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -India has shared a warning on possible cross-border flooding with neighbour Pakistan, Pakistani officials and a source in New Delhi said on Monday, as the arch enemies grapple with deadly floods and relentless monsoon rains.
The information-sharing has come as a surprise because New Delhi put a decades-old treaty with Islamabad on water access in "abeyance" in April after linking a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir to Pakistan. Islamabad denied any involvement. The tensions escalated in May to the worst military clash between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades.
India's high commission in Islamabad shared the warning on Sunday with Pakistan's foreign ministry on "humanitarian grounds" and not under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, the Indian source said, following heavy rains in the Jammu and Kashmir region bordering Pakistan.
The source, citing government rules, declined to be named. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Pakistan's foreign ministry said the warning was issued through diplomatic channels "rather than through the Indus Waters Commission as required under the Indus Waters Treaty".
This month floods in India's northern territory of Jammu and Kashmir have killed at least 60 people and nearly 400 more in northwest Pakistan.
In total, the floods have killed 799 people in Pakistan since the monsoon started in late June, Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said, warning of more heavy rain until September10.
Mazhar Hussain, a disaster management official in the Pakistani province of Punjab, said the information shared by India included a warning about a possible surge in the Tawi river, which becomes the Sutlej when it crosses into Pakistan.
"It has not indicated the scale of water but has warned about high flooding in the river," Hussain said.
"Moreover, heavy rains across the border have filled the Indian dams, which would force India to release water. Heavy rains in Pakistan and the water released by India would cause high floods in Sutlej, Ravi, and ChenabinPunjab."
WATER SUPPLY
Under the 1960 treaty, three rivers that flow westwards from India were awarded to Pakistan and three eastern-flowing rivers were granted to India.
Pakistan fears India could choke its main water supply, putting at risk most of its agriculture and hydro-power.
In its statement on Monday, Pakistan's foreign ministry reiterated its call on India to comply with all provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.
"India’s unilateral declaration to hold the Treaty in abeyance constitutes a serious violation of international law and could have significant negative consequences for peace and stabilityinSouthAsia."
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das in New Delhi, Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Mubasher Bukhari in LahoreEditing by YP Rajesh and Gareth Jones)
PETALING JAYA: Saluran radio pertama yang memberi fokus kepada agenda kebajikan dan kemasyarakatan, Peduli Radio buat pertama kalinya dilancarkan di negara ini.
Pengerusi Peduli Radio, Ishak Abdul Kadir berkata, saluran tersebut menjadi platform untuk penyiaran maklumat berkaitan misi bantuan bencana, aktiviti kebajikan dan pembangunan komuniti melalui radio dalam talian sama ada daripada kerajaan atau pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO).
“Peduli Radio mencerminkan semangat Malaysia Madani, di mana nilai kepedulian, ihsan dan tanggungjawab sosial dijadikan teras utama. Platform ini diyakini mampu menyebarkan mesej kebaikan, memperkukuh jaringan sukarelawan dan membina masyarakat yang lebih penyayang.
“Peduli Radio bukan sekadar medium informasi dan hiburan, tetapi bakal menjadi jambatan kasih sayang antara rakyat, menzahirkan keprihatinan tentang isu kebajikan sekaligus membuka ruang untuk lebih ramai pihak tampil menghulurkan bantuan dan sokongan,” katanya dalam kenyataan.
Majlis pelancaran disempurnakan Menteri Komunikasi, Datuk Fahmi Fadzil di Putrajaya Sentral semalam.
Ishak berkata, komunikasi sangat penting apabila berlaku bencana kerana ia menghubungkan antara mangsa dan pemberi bantuan.
“Saya banyak belajar mengenai kebajikan dengan sahabat di Indonesia dan mereka sentiasa tekankan peduli. Kita kena sentiasa peduli dengan soal kebajikan semua orang. Kami sendiri mempunyai 14 jenis bantuan kebajikan dan tujuan radio ini ditubuhkan agar dapat menjadi jambatan antara masyarakat dan mereka yang memerlukan,” jelasnya.
Peduli Radio menawarkan pelbagai segmen khas berorientasikan kebajikan antaranya Segmen Inspirasi berkisar perkongsian kisah teladan dan motivasi daripada masyarakat, Suara Komuniti iaitu ruang kepada NGO, sukarelawan dan pihak memerlukan bersuara dan Kempen Peduli mengetengahkan inisiatif bantuan, kutipan derma dan program sukarelawan.
Selain siaran langsung, Peduli Radio turut mengoptimumkan penggunaan platform digital dan media sosial bagi memperluaskan capaian serta menarik lebih ramai pendengar bersama dalam usaha murni ini.-UTUSAN